Bristle feeding mechanism



l 1968 T. MARKS ETAL 3,376,073

BRISTLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 28, 1965 I5 Sheets-Sheet l 70CLUTCH-BRAKE fACfl/AI/NG C/fiC'U/T FIG. 3

' JNVENTORa THEODORE MARKS Y JOSEPH 7- 661490! B (E Z ATTORNEYS.

April 1968 T. MARKS ETAL 3,376,073

BRISTLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 28, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 7:

COUNTER CIRCUIT 39 CLUTCH-BRAKE Ac TUA TING CIRCUIT INVEN'TOR S.

77/600025 MARKS JOSEPH 7.' 651.420! Y ATTORNEYS.

A ril 2, 1968 T. MARKS ETAL 3,

BRISTLE FEEDING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 28, 1965 s Sheets-Sheet s I llINVENTORS. I'HE'ODORE ,wwxs

JOSEP/l I GEIJRD/ 3,376,073 BRISTLE FEEDING MECHANISM Theodore Marks,Hartsdale, and Joseph T. Gelardi, Yonkers, N.Y., assignors to AmericanTechnical Machinery Corporation, Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation ofNew York Filed Oct. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 505,506 7 Claims. (Cl. 300-2)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE In a brush-making machine whereinbristle-feeding means is employed to feed bristles between a pair ofadjacent wires, which wires are thereafter twisted, control means areprovided for determining the spacing between groups of brush elements.The control means cornprises means for sensing increments of lineartravel of the wires, means coupled to the sensing means for countingsaid sensed increments, and actuating means responsive to the countingmeans and coupled to the bristle-feeding means whereby to prevent thebristle-feeding means from feeding bristles between the wires for apredetermined time while the wires are fed to and past the bristlefeeding station.

This invention relates to automatic brush-making machines for makingcylindrical brushes and, in particular, to an intermittently operablebristle-feeding mechanism.

In producing cylindrical brushes, a pair of wires are fed to abristle-feeding station where bristles are deposited between the wiresand the bristles thereafter locked in place by imparting a twist to thewires. In US. Patent No. 3,160,440, granted Dec. 8, 1964, we disclose acontinuous brush-making machine in which adjacent wires with brushbristles therebetween are fed through a twisting station whilesimultaneously applying a force to the brush bristles in a direction toimpart a twist to the wires, thereby locking the bristles between thewires. By utilizing the foregoing technique, we find that we can producecylindrical brushes continuously while cutting them to any desiredlength without necessitating the stopping of the machine during thecutting cycle.

In producing cylindrical brush segments, it is generally desirable tohave bristle-free wire extending from the brush segment for mounting thebrush to a handle.

It is thus the object of this invention to provide in combination with abrush-making machine an intermittently operable bristle-feedingmechanism adapted to deposit spaced groups of bristles between a pair ofmoving wires.

Another object is to provide a bristle-feeding mechanism which may beoperated independently of the wire-feeding mechanism and which may becontrolled independently of the wire feeding mechanism.

A still further object is to provide, in combination with a brush-makingmachine, means for producing a twisted brush wire product having spacedgroups of bristles with bare wire therebetween.

A further object is to provide, in combination with a brush-makingmachine, means for sensing increments of linear travel of wire, meanscoupled to the sensing means for counting the sensed increments and anactuating circuit coupled to the counting means and responsive theretofor controlling the amount of bristles deposited between a pair ofmoving wires.

These and other objects will more clearly appear from the followingdisclosure and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows somewhat schematically one emboditates Patent ice ment of acontinuous brush-making machine to which our invention may be applied;

FIG. 2 is illustrative of a cylindrical product showing bare wire spacedbetween groups of bristles produced continuously in accordance with ourinvention;

FIG. 3 is one embodiment of a clutch-brake mechanism which may beemployed in controlling the feeding cycle of the bristle-feedingmechanism;

FIG. 4 shows schematically one means for carrying out the invention;

FIG. 5 shows in exploded perspective the basic elements of one type of acontinuous brush-making machine utilizing one embodiment of ourinvention; and

FIG. 6 depicts one embodiment of a twisting and feeding mechanismemployed in the continuous brush-making machine of the type shown inFIG. 5.

In carrying out the invention, we provide an intermittently operablebristle-feeding mechanism which may or may not be operated independentlyof the wire-feeding mechanism but which is controlled in timed sequencewith the wires being fed through the bristle-feeding station. Broadlyspeaking, the invention may be employed in combination with abrush-making machine of either the continuous or intermittentwire-feeding types comprising a bristle-feeding station and means forfeeding a pair of wires to the bristle-feeding station, thebristle-feeding station being comprised of bristle-storage means and abristle-feeding mechanism for feeding bristles from the storage means tobetween the wires prior to twisting the wires together. We find thatwith our invention, we can produce a brush wire product having spacedgroups of bristles with bare wire therebetween. Thus, in combinationwith the brush-making machine, we may employ means for sensingincrements of linear travel of the wires during a brush-makingoperation, means coupled to the sensing means for counting the sensedincrements and an actuating circuit coupled to the bristle-feedingmechanism responsive to a signal from the counting means in accordancewith a predetermined count corresponding to a given linear travel of thewires, whereby bristles are prevented from being fed to between thewires at spaced periods of time.

Where the bristle feeding mechanism is a rotating wheel havingperipheral slots carrying bristles therein, the wheel may be stopped fora given period of time and then allowed to rotate for another timeperiod depending on the type of brush product being produced. Or thewheel may continue to rotate and a mechanism employed to stop thefeeding of bristles into the slots of the bristlefeeding wheel. Whateverthe method of feeding of the bristles, we find that the invention isapplicable in providing a means of intermittently feeding bristles tothe wires, even in instances where the brush-making machine is operatedcontinuously as disclosed in US. Patent No. 3,160,440.

In one embodiment of our invention, we provide an intermittentlyoperable bristle-feeding mechanism at a bristle-feeding station whichoperates independently of the wire feeding mechanism but which iscontrolled to operate in timed sequence with the wires being fed throughthe bristle-feeding station. An electrically controlled powertransmission means may be employed having input means coupled to asource of power and output means releasably coupled to the input means,the output means being coupled to the bristle-feeding mechanism. Meansfor sensing increments of linear travel of the wires is provided, whichsensing means is coupled to a counting means preset to a predeterminednumber of counts corresponding to a given length of the moving wires,the counting means being also coupled to the electrically operabletransmission means via an actuating circuit to control the starting andstopping of said releasably coupled output shaft.

In the preferred embodiment provision is made for a bristle-feedingstation and means for feeding a pair of wires to the bristle-feedingstation comprising means for storing bristles and a bristle-feedingwheel mounted on a rotatable shaft for feeding bristles from the storagemeans and depositing them between the pair of wires passing through thestation. Means for driving the wires is also provided independent of thebristle-feeding wheel. The bristle-feeding wheel is coupled to theoutput shaft of an electrically controlled clutch-brake powertransmission means having a rotatable input shaft coupled to a source ofpower the output shaft being releasably coupled to the input shaft. Asensing means is provided, for example, a photoelectric circuit, forsensing increments of linear travel of the wires during a brush-makingoperation, the sensing means being coupled to counting means which ispreset to record a predetermined number of counts corresponding to agiven length of moving wire. The counting means is coupled to aclutch-brake actuating circuit which in turn is coupled to theclutch-brake mechanism, which actuating circuit upon receiving a signalfrom the counting means is adapted to disconnect the output shaft fromthe input shaft and to brake the output shaft and thereby intermittentlystop the bristle-feeding wheel. The counter automatically resets itselfat the end of each counting cycle while at the same time actuates theclutchbrake actuating circuit to cause the output shaft of theclutch-brake mechanism to be re-coupled to the input shaft thereof.

In FIG. 1, we show schematically one embodiment of a continuousbrush-making machine utilizing our invention. Wires and 11 arepreferably, although not necessarily, driven from storage reels (notshown) to bristlefeeding station designated generally by the numeral 12by means of friction drive rollers 13 and 14 which are rotated by meansnot shown in synchronism with each other to produce a desired wire feedrate. Friction drive rollers 13 and 14 are pressed against theirrespective wires, the wires being supported by idler rollers 15 and 16.The wires are delivered to groovedfeeder wheels at the bristlefeedingstation. Thus, wire 10 is guided by an additional idler roller 17 to awire-feeding drum 18, the wire passing around a peripheral portion ofthe wheel and emerges from the bristle-feeding station as shown.Similarly, wire 11 is guided by idler roller 19 about a wire feedingdrum hidden from view by bristle-feeding wheel 20 which hasbristle-carrying slots 21 located along its periphery. Wire 11 leavesits corresponding drum and emerges from the bristle-feeding station inadjacent relationship to wire 10. A hopper 22 is provided containingbristles which are removed by the slots of bristle-feeding wheel 20 anddeposited between wires 10 and 11.

Bristle-feeding wheel 20 is independently actuated via a rotatable shaft121 which passes through a hollow shaft 104 (note FIG. 5) upon which thewire drum hidden from view is mounted. Wheel 20 is driven at apredetermined speed to lay bristles between wires 10 and 11 at a desiredrate, which is dependent on the wire feed rate and the bristle densitydesired in the finished product. Since the object is to producecontinuously a brush in which the bristles are laid down in spacedgroups as shown in FIG. 2, which shows brush elements 25 separated bybare wires 26, the bristle-feeding wheel is controlled to deliverbristles at a series of spaced charges or groups. The wires with thebristles held and supported therebetween pass through a pre-twiststation 27 comprising a hollow cylindrical body 28 driven by a V belt 29or other suitable transmission means, e.g., gears, via driving means 30.Within the hollow body is provided twisting means (to be describedlater) for applying a partial twist to the wires.

The wires laden with bristles then pass through a finish twistingstation 31 comprising a hollow body 31a also driven by a V belt 32 orother suitable means via driving means 33. The brush body with spacedbristles 25 moves to a cutting station 34 Where the brush elements areseparated by severing the brush body at a predetermined point on barewires 26.

As stated hereinabove, while the bristle-feeding wheel is driven at apredetermined speed dependent on the wire feed rate and the bristledensity desired in the final product, it is preferably poweredindependently of the wire feed means. In order to obtain the desiredspacing of bristle groups between the wires, the stopping of thebristlefeeding Wheel is determined by a counter which is coupled to asensing mechanism, e.g., a photoelectric circuit, which measures theamount of linear travel of the wire corresponding to predeterminedlength. A system which may be employed is that depicted schematically inFIG. 4. There a counter Wheel 35 is shown having evenly spaced radialelements 36 projecting outwardly from the periphery of the wheel. Thewheel is mounted on a shaft 37 which may be the shaft common to one ofthe wire feeding means, or the shaft may be driven via transmissionmeans coupled to the wire feeding shaft so that the rotary movement ofcounter wheel 35 is related to the linear movement of the wire.Photoelectric means 38 is arranged to form a line of sight transverse ofmoving elements 36 of the counter wheel, the speed of the Wheel beingsuch that each time an element 36 interrupts the line of sight of thephotoelectric means, a count is recorded on counter 39 corresponding toa unit length of brush moving past the bristle-feeding station. As willbe appreciated the counter may be any conventional type counter wellknown in the art.

Assuming that each interrupting element 36 is moving at a speed past thephotoelectric cell corresponding to onesixteenth of an inch of movingwire and the overall length L (FIG. 2) of the brush including the barewire is 12 inches long of which 5 inches is the bare wire and 7 inchesthe brush element, the total count for a brush would be 16x12 or 192counts of which 112 counts is for the brush element and counts for thebare wire. The counter 39 is accordingly set to register a total countof 192. During the first 112 counts corresponding to the brush element,the bristle-feeding Wheel 40 shown in FIG. 4 is turning,

wheel 40 being coupled via a V belt 41 to output shaft 42 1 ofclutch-brake mechanism 45 via pulleys 43 and 44. The clutch-brake has aninput shaft 46 and pulley 47 coupled to a source of power not shown.When the 113th count is recorded the counter sends a signal to theclutch-brake actuating circuit 48 which causes output shaft 42 to bedecoupled from input shaft 46 and braked whereby bristlefeeding wheel 40is caused to stop. When the total count reaches 192, clutch-brakeactuating circuit 48 is again activated via a signal from the countercircuit to cause output shaft 42 to be coupled to input shaft 46 andcause bristlefeeding wheel 40 to rotate. Simultaneously, the countercircuit automatically resets itself for another 192 count cycle. Theforegoing cycle is repeated until a brush-making run is completed.

A clutch-brake mechanism which we have found advantageous for ourpurpose is that shown in FIG. 3. There the figure shows releasableoutput shaft 49 supported on bearings (not shown) coaxially mountedrelative to input shaft 50also supported on bearings (not shown).Surrounding the shafts are a pair of armatures 51 and 52 supported onlegs 51a, 52a, respectively. Armature 51 which surrounds input shaft 50has an annular shoulder 53 extending at substantially right anglestherefrom to provide a space within the armature to receive a metal disc54 of magnetic material which is keyed to the input shaft as shown.

Armature 52 similarly has an annular shoulder 55 which defines a spacewithin the armature which has fixed in it a braking disc 56 of magneticmaterial. Output shaft 49 is splined at 57 and has slidingly mounted onthe splines a magnetic rotor disc 58 which is keyed to enable it torotate when the shaft rotates. Shaft 49 is additionally splined at itsfree end 59 and has slidingly mounted on the splines a rotor disc 60which is also keyed to enable it to rotate with the shaft. Lead wires 61and 62 are provided for coupling the armatures to the clutch-brakeactuating circuit.

In order to couple input shaft 50 to output shaft 49, armature 51 isactivated whereby lines of force are set up as showing and magnetic disc60 on splines 59 is attracted to magnetic plate or friction disc 54 andheld magnetically to it until the armature is deactivated. To stop theoutput shaft from rotating, armature 51 is deactivated to decouple inputshaft 50 from output shaft 49. Simultaneously with this operation,armature 52 is activated to draw magnetic disc 58 to braking disc 56 sothat the rotation of the output shaft is stopped.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exploded perspective is shown of one form ofcontinuous brush-making machine similar to the type shown in the US.Patent No. 3,160,440. FIG. 5 shows a heavy duty motor 65 coupled via aV-belt drive or other suitable drive means to pulley 67 on shaft 66having transmission pulleys 68, 69 and 70 mounted thereon. Pulley 70 isin turn coupled to pulley 71 via V-belt 72, pulley 71 being mounted onshaft 73 which in turn has pulley 74 which is coupled to pulley 75mounted on hollow cylinder 76 through which a twisted wire brush productis adapted to travel as will be described later.

Pulleys 68 and 69 are likewise coupled to several other shafts, pulley69 being coupled to shaft 77 via pulley 78 and pulley 68 being coupledto shaft 79 via pulley 80. Shaft 79 is coupled via pulley 81 to therotatable hollow cylinder 31 by means of pulley 83 mounted on thecylinder. Cylinder 31 together with cylinder 76 is part of the twistingstation.

Shaft 77 is coupled via pulley 84 to pre-twist cylinder 27 by means ofpulley 86, said pre-twist cylinder being also part of the twistingstation. Thus, summarizing the foregoing, driving means are provided forthe twisting station which includes a pre-twist section 27 Where thewires are partially twisted to lock the bristles in place, a finishtwist section where the wires are given a final twist and a feedingsection 76 containing within it a helical element 76a which provides apulling force on the wires by coaction with the bristles as the brushproduct travels therethrough to supplement the feeding of the wires atthe bristle-feeding station to be described later.

In addition to supplying power to the wire twisting station, the motoralso supplies power to the wire feeding means and to the bristle-feedingmechanism. Thus, pulley 87 is provided on shaft 77 which is coupled to apulley 88 connected to the input side of a variable speed device 89having a pulley 90 or equivalent transmission means on the output sideof the device coupled to input pulley 91 of transmission unit 92. Thepurpose of the variable speed device is to enable varying the wire speedto suit a particular set of circumstances.

Output pulley 93 of transmission unit 92 is coupled to shaft 94 viapulley 95. This shaft and its mounted pulleys is used to drive the wirefeed rollers and the bristlefeeding wheel as will be apparent from FIG.5. Pulley 96 of shaft 94 is coupled to pulley 97 .on shaft 98 which inturn has mounted on it friction wire drive roller 99 which is inperipheral contact with wire idler roller 100 mounted on idler shaft101.

Shaft 94 also has pulley 102 mounted thereon which is in turn coupled topulley 103 mounted on hollow shaft 104, which shaft is in turn coupledvia pulley -5 to pulley 106 mounted on drive shaft 107 of friction wire.

drive roller 108. Drive roller 108 is in peripheral contact with wireidler roller 169 mounted on idler shaft 110.

Mounted on hollow shaft 104 is drive gear 111 which meshes with gear 112mounted on shaft 113 having wire feeding drum 114 coaxially mountedthereon. Hollow shaft 104 has corresponding wire feeding drum 115, saiddrums 114 and 115 being closely and peripherally adjacent each other.Thus, wire fed between wire rollers 108 and 109 is brought around acircular portion of drum 115 and out towards pre-twist station 85.Similarly wire fed between wire rollers 99 and 100 is brought up andaround a circular portion of wire drum 18 and out towards said twistingstation.

In addition to supplying power to the Wire feeding mechanism, shaft 94also supplies power to the clutchbrake device coupled to the shaft ofthe bristle feeding wheels. Thus, pulley 116 is provided on shaft 94which is coupled to the input side of clutch-brake device 117 via pulley118. The clutch-brake device may be of the type shown in FIG. 3. Apulley 119 is provided on the output side of the clutch-brake devicewhich is coupled to pulley 120 mounted on shaft 121 which passes throughhollow shaft 104 and to which bristle-feeding wheel 20 containingbristle-feeding slots 21 is mounted. For purposes of clarity,bristle-feeding wheel 20 is shown displaced from wire drum 115.Actually, the wheel in operation is positioned adjacent the face of thedrum. The position of the wheel relative to both drums 114 and 115 issuch that the bristles received in the slots extend sufiicientlytransversely thereof so as to extend between the two wire drums and bedeposited between the wire being drawn 0d the drums.

The sensing means for detecting increments of linear travel of the Wiresmaybe associated with one of the wire feeding means since the wirefeeding means of both wires are in synchrony with each other. Referringto FIG. 5, the sensing means is shown associated with shaft 107 of wiredrive roller 108. Mounted on shaft 107 is a drive pulley 124 which iscoupled to driven pulley 127 mounted on shaft 126. Also mounted on shaft126 is a counter wheel 128 having evenly spaced radial elements orinterrupters 129 projecting outwardly from the periphery of the wheel.Located transversely of the periphery of the wheel is a photoelectricsensor 130a, 13012 which is coupled to a counter 13-1, which counter iscoupled to clutchbrake actuating circuit 132, said circuit being in turncoupled to clutch-brake mechanism 117 as indicated by the arrowed lines.

Depending on the speed ratio between wire drive shaft 107 and counterwheel shaft 126, each of the radial elements or interrupters 129 oncounter wheel 128 will rep resent an increment of linear travel of thewire as each counter wheel element interrupts the line of sight of photoelectric sensing means 130a, 13%. As has been stated earlier with regardto FIG. 4, assuming each moving counter element represents one-sixteenthof an inch of travel of each of the wires, the rotary movement of thecounter wheel may be related to a given length of wire. For a length sayof 12 inches, the total number of counts, would be 192. Assuming 5inches of the wire will contain no bristles, then (the count for barewire would be 80 and for the brush portion 112. The counter 131, whichmay be any conventional counter well known in the art, will record thetotal number of counts and at the 192ml count reset itself to zero andstart counting anew. During the first 112 counts corresponding -to thebrush portions of the product, the output side of the clutch-brakemechanism is operating to actuate bristle-feeding wheel 20. At the 113thcount, the counter sends a signal to the clutch-brake actuating circuit132 which causes the output side of the clutch-brake mechanism to stopand prevent bristles from being deposited between the wires until the192nd count is reached, at which time another signal is sent to theclutch-brake actuating circuit to repeat the cycle.

Wire drums 18 and 115- shown in FIG. 5 correspond generally to wire drum18 and the drum hidden from view by bristle-feeding wheel 20 in FIG. 1.The bristle-laden Wire's issuing from drums 18, 115 of FIG. 5 passthrough pre-twist section or hollow cylinder 27 where a partial twist isapplied to the wires. The hollow cylinder 27 may be of the type shown inFIG. 6 designated by the numeral 135 which contains a pair of rods 1'36,137 rigidly mounted via bent legs to the internal wall of the cylinder.The cylinder may be rotated via a V-belt drive 138 or other meanscoupled to a source of power not shown. As the bristleladen wires passthrough the rotating cylinder, the rods contact the bristles and apply aforce couple which results in a first increment of twist of one wireabout the other with the bristles locked therebetween. A finish twist isthen applied by passing the partially twisted wire product throughcylinder 139 (or cylinder 31 of FIG. 5) having a screw or helicalstructure 140 rigidly mounted coaxially within it via radially extendinganchoring means 141, the cylinder similarly being rotated by means of aV-belt drive or other equivalent means.

The rotating screw assembly shown in FIG. 6 rotates independent of andfaster than the rotating rod assembly and applies a desired final twistto the pair of wires by applying a force to the bristles held betweenthe wires. A similar helical screw may be employed in cylinder 76 ofFIG. 5 to act as a linear feeder to supplement the wire feed to drums 18and 115. Thus, as the finally twisted product passes through the screwassembly of cylinder 76, a linear pulling force is applied on theproduct to keep it in slight tension.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction withpreferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications andvariations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readilyunderstand. Such modifications and variations are considered to bewithin the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a brush making machine, an intermittently operable bristle-feedingmeans comprising, a bristle-feeding station, means for feeding a pair ofwires to said bristlefeeding station, said bristle-feeding stationcomprising bristle storage means and a bristle-feeding means for feedingbristles from said storage means to between the wires, means for sensingincrements of linear travel of said wires during a brush-makingoperation, means coupled to said sensing means for counting said sensedincrements, and an actuating circuit coupled to said counting means andto said bristle-feeding means and producing an electrical signal inaccordance with a predetermined count corresponding to the linear travelof said wires, said bristle feeding means being responsive to saidsignal to prevent the feeding of bristles between said wires accordingto said predetermined count while the wires are being fed to and pastsaid bristle feeding station.

2. In a continuous brush making machine, an intermittently operablebristle-feeding means comprising, a bristle feeding station, means forfeeding a pair of wires to said bristle-feeding station, said bristlefeeding station comprising bristle storage means and a bristle feedingmeans for feeding bristles from said storage means to between saidwires, means for sensing increments of linear travel of said wiresduring a brush-making operation, means coupled to said sensing means forcounting said sensed increments, and an actuating means coupled andresponsive to said counting means and coupled to said bristle feedingmeans for starting and stopping said bristle feeding mechanism inaccordance with a predetermined count While said wires are continuouslyfed to and past said bristle feeding station.

3. In a brush-making machine, an intermittently operable bristle-feedingmeans which comprises, a bristlefeeding station, means for feeding apair of wires to said bristle-feeding station said bristle-feedingstation comprising means for storing bristles and a bristle-feedingmeans for discharging bristles from said bristle-storing means tobetween said pair of wires passing therethrough, power transmissionmeans releasably coupled to said bristle-feeding means, means forsensing increments of linear travel of said wires during a brush-makingoperation, means coupled to said sensing means for counting said sensedincrements, and an actuating circuit coupled to said counting means andto said power transmission means and producing an electrical signal inaccordance with a predetermined count corresponding to the linear travelof said wires, said power transmission means being responsive to saidsignal in starting and stopping said bristlefeeding means, while thewires are being fed to and past said bristle-feeding station.

4. In a brush-making machine, an intermittently operable bristle-feedingmeans which comprises, a bristlefeeding station, means for feeding apair of wires to said bristle-feeding station, said bristle-feedingstation comprising means for storing bristles and a bristle-feedingwheel mounted on a rotatable shaft for discharging bristles from saidbristle-storing means to between said pair of wires passingtherethrough, transmission means releasably coupled to the shaft of saidbristle-feeding wheel, means for sensing increments of linear travel ofsaid wires during a brush-making operation, means coupled to saidsensing means for counting said sensed increments, and an actuatingcircuit coupled to said counting means and to said power transmissionmeans and producing an electrical signal in accordance with apredetermined count corresponding to the linear travel of said wires,said power transmission means being responsive to said signal instarting and stopping the rotation of said bristle feeding wheel whilethe wires are being fed to and past said bristle feeding station.

5. In a brush-making machine, an intermittently operable bristle-feedingmechanism which comprises, a bristlefeeding station, means for feeding apair of wires to said bristle-feeding station, said bristle-feedingstation comprising means for storing bristles and a bristle-feedingwheel mounted on a rotatable shaft for discharging bristles from saidbristle-storing means to between said pair of wires passingtherethrough, means for driving said wirefeeding means independent ofsaid bristle-feeding wheel, power transmission means releasably coupledto the shaft of said bristle-feeding wheel, means for sensing incrementsof linear travel of said wires during a brush-making operation, andmeans coupled to said sensing means for counting said sensed increments,and an actuating circuit coupled to said counting means and to saidpower transmission means and producing an electrical signal inaccordance with a predetermined count corresponding to the linear travelof said wires, said power transmission means being responsive to saidsignal in starting and stopping the rotation of said bristle-feedingwheel while the wires are being fed to and past said bristle-feedingstation.

6. In a continuous brush-making machine, an intermittently operablebristle-feeding mechanism which comprises, a bristle-feeding station,means for feeding a pair of wires to said bristle-feeding station, saidbristle-feeding station comprising means for storing bristles and abristlefeeding wheel mounted on a rotatable shaft for dischargingbristles from said bristle-storing means to between said pair of wirespassing therethrough, an electrically operable clutch-brake powertransmission means having a rotatable input shaft coupled to a source ofpower and a rotatable output shaft releasably coupled to said inputshaft, said output shaft being coupled to the shaft of saidbristle-feeding wheel, photoelectric means for sensing increments oflinear travel of said wires during a brush-making operation, meanscoupled to said sensing means for counting said sensed increments, andan actuating circuit coupled to said counting means and to said powertransmission means and producing an electrical signal in accordance witha predetermined count corresponding to the linear travel of the wire,said actuating circuit being adapted to stop the rotation of the outputshaft of the clutch-brake means and hence the rotation of thebristle-feeding wheel for a predetermined time until a given length ofthe wires has passed the bristle-feeding station without bristlestherebetween.

7. In a continuous brush-making machine, an intermittently operablebristle-feeding mechanism which comprises, a bristle-feeding station,means for feeding a pair of wires to said bristle-feeding station, saidbristle-feeding station comprising means for storing bristles and abristlefeeding wheel mounted on a rotatable shaft for dischargingbristles from said bristle-storing means to between said pair of wirespassing therethrough, means for driving said wire-feeding meansindependent of said bristle-feeding wheel, an electrically operableclutch-brake power transmission means having a rotatable input shaftcoupled to a source of power and a rotatable output shaft releasablycoupled to said input shaft, said output shaft being coupled to theshaft of said bristle-feeding wheel, photoelectric means for sensingincrements of linear travel of said wires during a brush-makingoperation, means coupled to said sensing means for counting said sensedincrements, and an actuating circuit coupled to said counting means andto said power transmission means and producing an electrical signal inaccordance with a predetermined count corresponding to the linear travelof the wire, said actuating circuit being adapted to stop the rotationof the output shaft of the clutch-brake means and hence the rotation ofthe bristle-feeding wheel for a predetermined time until a given lengthof the wires has passed the bristle-feeding station without bristlestherebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,712,473 7/1955 Hertzberg 300-22,742,327 4/1956 Marks 300--2 3,140,122 7/1964 Spiegel 3002 WILLIAM W.DYER, Jr., Primary Examiner. G. Y. OUSTER, Jr., Examiner.

